Masha Richart

I would happily use cotton twill for this jacket. One of the fabrics the pattern suggests is flannel and I wouldn’t expect cotton twill to be much, if any thicker than flannel.

I took the children to “railfest” this past weekend, an exhibiton day that is held by the volunteers of the Rail museum in our local capital city. Whilst there we took some time out to play in the small playground before heading home again. My 21 month old hasn’t had a lot to do with playgrounds so was watching some children slightly older than…[Read more]

Sorry I didn’t get back here sooner — but I like that latest pic a lot, the fit looks great!

Well done persevering toward a great fit!

I use polycotton poplin for lining most of the Oliver + S patterns I make. Lightweight, sews up well, washes easily, and doesn’t wrinkle to much.

Thank you all, very much. I really appreciate the advice. LoL, S!! Nearly finished the Halloween quilt; a little more outrageous than I planned but here’s hoping the kids will like, and that it won’t make the parents physically sick.

Ah, now I see what you mean. For that, you should true up using the original side seam. It will bring in your side seam by the dart by a bit, but you’ve added extra space near the front of the top so you’re still adding ease.

Or if you really need/want that extra bit at the side seam, add the equivalent amount to the side seam of the sleeve…[Read more]

I’m also trying to follow what’s happening, and I think the bit that’s throwing me is the bit where doing the FBA changed the size of the sleeve opening — it shouldn’t, I don’t think? Am I misremembering? I made this in both a 10 and an 8, with and without an FBA — I found in the end that although I do a 3/4″ FBA for the Cinema Dress, I liked…[Read more]

You sound very frustrated, @lotuspeachblog. Let me see what I can do to help now that I understand more about the situation.

First of all, I’m going to suggest my favorite book which I think will be very useful to you: “Fit for Real People” by Pati Palmer. She covers all sorts of fit situations for every body shape, and I think you’ll find it to…[Read more]

I’m not sure I’m following your changes, @lotuspeachblog. You’re using one size sleeve, another size armhole, and a different size neckline, and still another size side-seam/width? This sounds too complicated to me!

My book arrived today and I wasn’t expecting it until next week. It’s a fab book and it will happily distract me this weekend when I am away from my sewing room.

Overall, I’d say you’re getting a pretty good fit now. I’d have to agree with @mama_knowles that I think the style looks better with a wider neck, but the beauty for sewing for yourself is that you can alter to your preferences, so if you’re happy with the narrower neckline, go with it! Otherwise, it looks as it should, so your alterations have…[Read more]

I guess I’d be inclined to alter the Building Block Dress skirt, but that’s just me. You’ll get a very different effect if you use box pleats, in large part because the black sections between the candy corns will be wider and won’t taper to points at the hem. Does that make sense? I think it would be easier to get the same look as the original if…[Read more]

Hi @lotuspeachblog. Sorry to hear that you’re having trouble! Without seeing photos or knowing the type of jersey (the amount of stretch, especially), it’s difficult to say what’s happening with your muslin. This style is designed to have a dropped shoulder–the sleeve seam sits further down on the shoulder/upper arm. Is that what’s throwing you?…[Read more]

I’m always surprised at the size of trick-or-treat bags! But then, we never did much trick-or-treating. I think a lot of bags are larger than the pumpkin buckets, so the drawstring bag won’t be too large at all. Yikes.

Hi Mollie, that skirt is very sweet!! My suggestion would be to use the 2+2 skirt pattern. It has pleats that could be adjusted for the candycorn look; it also has an adjustable waistband. Another pattern that could be adapted is the Music Box pinafore using the pleated version of the pattern. Good luck.

Sounds lovely Heidi.

I am still making my Harrison shirt in tencel denim and also my cone denim Gingers are almost complete.

I have Afterschool pants to hem and thread elastic into.

The hot weather is about to hit so I am preparing to sew t shirts, skirts, sundresses and shorts etc for myself and the girls. And I am thinking Christmas….